Gillette cuts Texans deep yet again…With CD, OneTexFan and Dan P.

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As I reflect on the Texans’ final game of the season, and the season as a whole, I’m both proud and disappointed, I’m hopeful but doubtful, I’m fired up and tired.

The Texans did Sunday what many expected, but most had hoped against.

The game’s fate was truly defined in the first minute. After Danieal Manning returned the opening kickoff beautifully for 94 yards to the New England 12, the Texans offense did what it had done best lately…the settled for a field goal. In essence, a three and out. If not for Manning, the “out” would’ve been a punt otherwise.

The Texans didn’t convert a 3rd down for the first 38 minutes of the game. Yet they still put themselves in good position going into halftime by closing the gap to 17-13.

Whatever Kubes said at halftime, he should never, ever, ever say again. Ever. Because what followed was more of what we saw in the first meeting between these two teams. New England took control of the game and left the Texans scratching their heads. Or hind quarters. Or both. Either way, the Texans coaches had no answers for anything New England did in the second half. The Pats ran off another 24 points while the Texans managed to try and make the game look somewhat respectable, at least on paper.

Oh, Matt’s numbers were good. Andre’s numbers were good. Arian’s numbers were even good after a slow start. But the glaring issues can’t be seen in the box score. The glaring issues were witnessed right out there on the field, in real time, against a real contender.

For the second time in as many seasons, the Texans were sent home packing in the divisional round, despite hosting the leagues best record for most of the season. It’s a crying shame too, because the Texans have the talent at many positions. Where that talent is and what the coaching trust does with it is content for a later post, but the Texans are talented, on both sides of the ball.

And so it is, that we are left to rehash last season and look forward to the next. And while I am greatly disappointed, I am still proud of my hometown team, and I look forward to next season.

I’ll have a lot more to say in the coming weeks about last season, and the next. But for now, I’ll let everyone else out there get the bitter taste out of their mouths.

~ Crimedog

• • •

OneTexFan:

Let’s start with a multiple choice question, ok? If we could add a sound track to this page, what would be the most relevant tune/lyric to listen to?

A. You don’t always get what you want…
B. Dang me, dang me, gonna take a rope and hang me. Hang me from the highest tree. Oh, woman, won’t you weep for me.
C. Hello darkness my old friend…
D. Don’t look so sad, I know it’s over. But this old world will keep on turning. Let’s just be glad for what we had together…
E. Turn out the lights, the party’s over…

If you have any suggestions (that can be printed), please add your choice/preference in the comments area. Maybe the therapy will help.

And if the Texans’ season were compared to a novel it would have to be “A Tale Of Two Cities”. “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

And this is what you’ll see around the State of Texas for a very long time. Plenty of broken hearts. Broken hearts to the right of you, broken hearts to the left of you, broken hearts in front of you, broken hearts behind you, and the very worst case of broken heart-i-tiss is reserved for the face looking at you in the mirror. What do you say to that dejected, sad and weary reflection?

It’s ok to feel that way. It’s only natural. But try to cheer up. Maybe later? Consider that Peyton Manning also rode his Broncos into the sunset, …once again. That’s happened to him before, right? The fans in New Orleans are left waiting for their cool Brees to lift them to yet another Championship. Aaron Rodgers is left singing the blues after Green Bay was denied another Championship. Even Peyton’s little brother Eli couldn’t rely on on his team’s giant former winning ways. Do you remember that even Tom Brady doesn’t make it to a Championship game every year? Perhaps that doesn’t make you feel any better, …for now anyway. The Houston Texans have been around the NFL for only a ten season hitch so far. They WILL get to the promised land. We’re just paying our dues while we’re playing the waiting game for awhile. Give this some thought though. Please try.

There is room for improvement with the Houston Texans. That can’t be denied. Would hiring a new Offensive Coordinator help matters? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. We can hope that more juice, more electricity, more spark, and more flair will be added to the Offense next season.

After this loss to the Patriots I believe that Coach Gary Kubiak and his staff, (perhaps with the influence of Management), will decide changes in ideology are indeed necessary. Will Coach Joe Marciano still be in charge of the Special Teams’ unit? Probably. Are you left wishing that Trindon Holliday was still under contract? Well, I’m wishing the very same thing myself. At the end of Preseason I was thinking that he would have given the Texans more than a few Kickoff returns for Touchdowns. It’s just unfortunate that he was scoring those points for the Denver Broncos. Are you wishing that Jacoby Jones was still on Special Teams for the Texans? Did you see the big bobble, muff & scuff he had on his opening return during the Denver/Baltimore Playoff game. It made me recall last season’s big gaff. But he is slotted for the Pro Bowl so he must be great, …uh, right? And for the Kicking Specialist, Randy Bullock will be back. He was injured in the 2012 Preseason, but his added leg strength should put more points on the scoreboard. He’ll also be able to put more kicks through the end zone which will deny opposing teams the better starting field position that we’ve just seen these past few months.

Does the third down conversion problem bother you? It should. On very short yardage situations it shouldn’t be that worrisome. The Offensive line and Arian Foster/Ben Tate one/two punch can do it, right? Or are we watching too much of the Arian Foster program without seeing Mr. Tate in his supporting role? Look for that to change this next season. Andre Johnson rebounded from his injury last season and had an excellent year. Matt Schaub had a foot injury and returned much stronger too. (Should I mention what happened with Adrian Peterson’s situation from just over a year ago to what he was just able to do this year? Still too painful to remember that game?) Tate had a bad year when compared to the previous one. He’s not going to be remembered as a one year hit, one year bust kind of guy. He’ll be back stronger. The backfield could be a three head monster next season with Forsett on the roster. I believe that the Offensive line will improve it’s play. They’ll be gelling as a unit and the improvement will occur. There shouldn’t be any defections from the unit like there was the previous season.

Moving to the Defense; I’m sure you’re happy with the nearly impeccable play of Mr. J. J. Watt. He’s coming off of his sophmore season and he’s only going to improve his game. He’s going to be re-writing the book for his position by the time his career is over.

Will Connor Barwin still be with the team? That’s a 50/50 proposition right now in my opinion. Furthermore, I think the Texans should try to keep the man. He had an off year in comparison to the previous season, but the team needs his experience and tenacity. And due to the downturn in his numbers over the past few months I think he’ll accept a contract that’s in the right price range.

Could the Secondary use some new blood? Sure, there’s a need for more depth at Corner and I would say that the Safety position could benefit with improved depth also, but it takes a few seasons of play to develop talent there. It’s possible that there will be some Free Agent signings in the off season, so there is always a possibility of that happening. But with the Salary Cap issues that situation might get a bit dicey. Just be happy that Kareem Jackson’s game play has improved. And he should be getting better as the years go by.

See, there’s some things to look forward to seeing. It’s not all doom and gloom.

In the “Luv Ya Blue” era it was “kick the s.o.b. in” time. How about a change of pace? Perhaps we can change the words to the tune of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s door?” Or am I asking for a bit too much here? (Just trying to be optimistic.)

Now it’s time to take a quick look at what happened during the Texans/Patriots game. Take a shot of Pepto Bismol, (or other poison of your choice), and then we can get started.

Ready?

The football game did start beautifully though. The weather was even fit for a Texans’ team to enjoy. Danieal Manning was in the middle of the end zone when he caught the ball. Out past the ten, the twenty, out past the forty, can he actually do it? He’s going to run all …out…of…gas! His legs just couldn’t carry him all the way. But I was sure at this point that the team would deliver a Touchdown. But, as you all know, it was just AFFG! (I give my friend, “SimplyAmazing”, proper respect for coming up with the abbreviation. If you don’t recall, it has something to do with Another Freaking Field Goal. With my editing supervision for a family publication done in response.)
I was left stunned that he ran out of steam. It was ONLY a hundred yard run. Why, oh why, oh why? And that pass to Thor was one more in a long list of ‘would a…, could a…, should a….’ One more blown Touchdown opportunity. It was dead on target, spot on pass.Red zone Offense, AFFG. Let’s move on.

Texans 3, Patriots 0

And after the 1st Quarter I was left feeling very optimistic for the Texans. It felt good to see Brady and Company go three and out on their first Offensive series.But at the end of the initial period it was Texans 3, Patriots 7. Notes of special significance at the time was the sack of Tom Brady by J. J. Watt and Brooks Reed. But the sacks sadly would not keep coming.

And during the intermission at Halftime I was still feeling very good about the Texans’ chances. Dropped passes that should have been caught, …yeah. But it’ll get better. The score is Texans 13, Patriots 17.

And in all of the cartoons it was THEN that the anvil dropped! Two more unanswered Touchdowns by New England. That was a gut punching period. Ouch! At the end of 3 Qtrs. it was Texans 13, Patriots 31. It seemed like it was just a game of cat and mouse. (Reminded me of Itchy and Scratchy, but not quite as bloody.)

Then the 4th Qtr. began. It was filled with promise, it was filled with hope. Emotions were soaring. Could a comeback miracle be obtained? Oh, it was feeling sweet, it was feeling grand. Texans 28, Patriots 38.

But as we all found out, …it was that sinking feeling once again. There just wasn’t enough ‘oomph’ in the Offense to get the job done right. Or perhaps the game ended too quickly, right? Imagine if there were several minutes left on the game clock, ok? Well…, if you think it over, it could of been worse too.

The game is over. The season is over. Texans 28, Patriots 41.

And here’s where I’m left with the image of Don Meredith singing his famous tune.

Turn out the lights, the party’s over!

~OneTexFan

• • •

Dan P’s takes

One bottom line fact of life is that being a fan of a sports team at any level is an investment. Depending on the fan and the sport this can be a casual temporary investment or a lifelong day by day 401K type of investment. Obviously, for true fans this investment is monetary in the form of tickets, shirts, jerseys, etc. – but in truth the investment goes far beyond this into the investment of their time, and very critically their intellectual and emotional investment.

The emotional component is a very telling and fascinating facet of fandom and may more than any other factor identify the type of fan we are talking about.

• The rabid fan is all-in. Their eating, breathing and dreaming revolve around their team. If emotions were finances they would have all their money in one stock. If loving a team was the same as loving another human being – they would be the ultimate enabler. No matter what their team/significant other did, no matter how many relapses, slippages, fall backs or broken hearts – they come back before every season with their heart on their sleeve ready to be ripped apart – again.
• The band wagon fan picks and chooses when to invest. They watch things carefully and when it looks like a good season is coming or under way – they are all-in – temporarily. A lot of them would have tuned out when the score got to 38-13 in the third quarter this week. If this were finances they would be the kind of person to buy when the stock was at its zenith, but would quickly dump it at the first sign of trouble. In romance – they would choose someone to date based on superficial evaluations and would run at the first sign of trouble.
• The cynical fan probably was once a rabid fan – but no more. They will never give their heart fully to anything. In finance – they are the ones who look over your shoulder and tell you that any investment you’ve made is probably not going to work out. In romance they are the friend who never dates, but is able to tick off a laundry list of what is wrong with your chosen one.
• The troll is either a fan of another team or just wants to chime in for effect. I imagine they were the kids using magnifying glasses and sunlight to torture ants. In finance – they always describe your stock as the next Enron, while they tell you they invested in Microsoft when Bill Gates was still working out of his garage. In romance – they describe your chosen one as Phyllis Diller or Marty Feldman, while they dated a former Miss America, who is also a neurosurgeon and philanthropist.

Anyways – on the day after another season ends horribly – we rabid fans are in the heart broken / vulnerable stage. We are beaten and grieving and willing to agree to anything. Matt Schaub is not good enough. Sure – sign VY. Kubiak’s a terrible play caller – what will it take to get a Gruden or a Cowher? Yeah – our defense seems to turn back into vintage 2010 when we need it to step up. No weapon at WR beyond Andre. Wade Phillips defense always falls off after the first season. Trindon and Jacoby are off strutting their stuff for other playoff teams. Fire our whole staff and do an Astros re-build.
But what gets me is just how great the Texan fans are. Yes, we understand that there are great fans everywhere and we get nose-rubbed by the Dallas, Green Bay and Pittsburgh fans. But how great do fans have to be to love football teams this much, invest this much without what I will call the Ultimate Payback?
I know there are those that say this unquestioning love is just enabling the owner and front office to not produce a Super Bowl Championship. I know there are those who say we need to “demand” more from the team like the fans of the Patriots do.
To that I say – what did the Patriot fans demand for the first 41 years of their existence? Because it had not even gotten them the AFL championships the Oilers brought this town. And what have they been demanding the last 8 years when they have 0 championships?
No, they have 3 championships in 53 seasons of existence and only those because Tom Brady was picked in the 6th round of the draft – one person short of the 200th pick in 2001 and because Drew Bledsoe went down and Brady got a shot that turned into a stranglehold.
You can demand all you want – but sometimes the football gods will smile on you and sometimes they don’t. The four best QBs in the league are Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Only one of those four is left standing as the league championship is down to its final four.

So, hit me while I am down – but believe me – God willing – I will be here before next season with my one team portfolio.